Ghost Type Stranger
by BullRunPicnicker
Summary: Danny is the worst trainer Ryan has ever met. He's also the weirdest. Post PP, set primarily in the post Red/Blue gameverse.
1. Chapter 1

First off, I was bored. Really, isn't that how most adventures start? Its an excuse to leave behind the familiar and experience the unknown. Unfortunately, even parts of my world that were unknown to me seemed to know me _very_ well. That comes with the territory of being a world-famous superhero.

My name is Danny Fenton, but the world, excluding some members of my hometown, knows me only as Danny Phantom, savior of the planet. This is the story of how I helped a world completely different than my own and learned some lesson about honesty or some such nonsense. Pretty good for avoiding mundanity, huh?

* * *

The good thing about my life after the Disasteroid is that I'm not alone anymore. I could leave temporarily and the town wouldn't be destroyed. My parents, Valerie, heck, even Sam and Tucker could protect the city if I were to go on an unplanned vacation. Well, that's what I was telling myself when I was flying through the Ghost Zone towards Clockwork's castle.

He's an old friend. Honestly, the situation with Clockwork is an odd one. If my life was in danger I wouldn't hesitate to ask him for help. He would definitely help me, too. On the other hand, I doubt we'd ever 'hang out.' That wasn't his style.

When I reached his floating castle, I flew right through the doors without a thought. Why bother knocking if the owner has always known you were coming? I soared into his main chamber, his normal haunt. Predictably, he was there, gazing silently at a multitude of time windows. He didn't even have to turn around to acknowledge me.

"Daniel. The answer is no." Well, Clockwork's nothing if not succinct.

"Come on!" I retorted, "You have to at least hear my request before turning me down!"

He waved his hand blithely. "Go on, then."

"I need a vacation. I've been running ragged all over the world, doing everything a good little superhero should: ribbon cuttings, crime fighting, baby kissing, giving overdue explanations to people about my secret double life…" I struggled to think of another duty. Merchandising supervision? Dealing with Tucker's increased jealousy at my expanded celebrity? Trying to be a good boyfriend to my best friend? Dealing with my parent's scientific curiosity at my very _existence_?

"...Yeah," I finished lamely. Clockwork sighed deeply.

"I can't just send you to a random timeline for a break from your responsibilities. That's not ethical. There could be untold repercussions… However…"

I perked up immediately. "What?"

"There is one thing…" He glanced around at the swirling windows around, looking for something. He gestured loosely and half the windows blink shut. A single window drifted in front of him, revealing a bustling town deep in a thick forest. "I do have a… task that needs doing." He glanced at me for the first time, then buried his concentration in the window again. "You've saved the world before, so it should be simple for you. If you accept this task, you won't come back until its done. Do you want to do it?"

"What task?" I was suspicious. Clockwork does not lie, but he doesn't always tell the whole truth.

"You'll figure it out. Its pretty important" His red, pupil-less eyes gleamed darkly as he looked over his shoulder at me. A tiny shudder ran through me. Sometimes, the fact that many of my friends are nonhuman bundles of otherworldly energy was distressingly obvious. But I _trusted _Clockwork.

"When do I leave?" Clockwork gave me a dark smile.

"Now."

The castle chamber around me was swept out of view like a map into a vacuum. I landed heavily on my feet in a thick forest.

* * *

I landed on my feet, but I didn't stay there long. Suddenly unbalanced, I fell onto my butt. Leaf litter cushioned me, thankfully, so I was just surprised, not bruised. It took me half a second to realize that I was in human form after slipping on some loose leaves or something.

_This is weird_, I thought. _Did Clockwork send me here?_

I got up slowly, trying to wipe the leaves and twigs off my jeans. Gross.

Just as I regained my balance, a brown, bird-shaped blur whizzed by near my head. I dodged out of the way and threw up my hands to protect myself. (I've gotten too many cardboard boxes and ectoplasmic nets thrown at my head to not be jumpy.) The blur missed me by an inch and flew past me and up, into the canopy of the forest.

_That was close_, I thought, two seconds before a green blur launched itself at my head. I punched it out of the air reflexively, silently thanking years of ghost fighting for saving me from this crazy forest. The blur audibly cracked when my fist connected. It dropped to the ground and started chittering angrily as it started to limp off into the underbrush.

It was a foot-long caterpillar. Its emerald exoskeleton had a visible crack on the forehead. It raised its head and chittered furiously at me again.

"You started it, bug eye!" I retorted. I slapped myself in the forehead. Was I _really _having an argument with a alien _insect_, of all things?

The bug began to limp off again, with exaggerated slowness.

"You're not that hurt!" Against my better judgement, I continued to berate the caterpillar.

Suddenly, the brown blur swooped out of the forest canopy, grabbing the bug and flying to a nearby tree branch. A brown bird with stubby, red wings glared down at me from a branch slightly above my head with its clawed, featherless foot holding the bug in place.

"Hey!" I screamed. I started running towards the bird waving my hands to try and scare it off. "We were talking! Give him back!"

The bird gave me a disdainful look.

"Roh-oh," it trilled.

"Give him back," I asked politely as I could muster. Maybe creatures in this world could understand speech? The green bug could definitely understand tone at least. It was worth a shot.

The bird tilted its head, a surprisingly innocent gesture. It brusquely kicked the caterpillar, causing it to roll off the branch and crash on the forest floor with a loud '_pii!_' and a thud. Recovering quickly, it scampered into the patchy undergrowth with a quick nod to me.

"Row," the bird crowed pleasantly.

"See, this is what happens when you pick on someone smaller than you: a stranger bursts out of nowhere and steals your lunch." The bird made a harsh gagging noise, like it was choking. "Are you _laughing _at me?!" A bushy headed, enormous pigeon monster was making fun of me.

I stalked away red-faced. My first moments in this new world were confusing and hilarious only in hindsight. At the time, I was furious.

The gagging noise abruptly stopped and a light fluttering noise revealed the redwinged bird wheeling through the trees in front of me. It landed lightly a few yards away. It lightly clawed at the loose leaves, not making eye contact.

"Are you trying to apologize?" It looked up shyly.

"Roh... Sp_ee_."

"Fine. But I need you to help me, before I let you leave." It tilted it's head quizzically, blinking owlishly. At this point, I was still running on the assumption that these monsters were the dominant species. I'd just come from a dimension where everything was made out of goop, so, honestly, I don't feel overly stupid for my assumptions. "Is there anyone around that needs help? Or anything that needs doing?"

The bird fluffed up self importantly. It turned it's feathery brown head over its shoulder and cawed lightly.

"Someone over there needs help? You're sure?" It cawed again. I shrugged. What did I have to lose by following it?

"Lead the way, birdbrain."


	2. Chapter 2

Following the bird, I was led even deeper into the woods. Now that nothing was flying at my head, thankfully, I was able to take a close look around. Everything was _off_. Not in a "all the trees have eyeballs and tentacles" way, but more of a "everything in your friend's house is rotated thirty degrees" way. I'm not a woodsy guy, but I could tell that all the plants were bizarro versions of what one would find in a park back home. Most of the trees seemed almost like oak trees, but did oak trees have soft, petal-like leaves and slightly rubbery bark? The undergrowth seemed more or less the same that I remembered from camping with my mom, but occasionally squat, dense bushes would be hidden in the brush. The bushes seemed to be growing brightly colored fruit.

When the bird saw a bush, it trilled happily. Turning its head to squawk at me, it stopped at the bush and carefully plucked a vividly red fruit with its beak. It tore into it excitedly, holding it down using its claws.

I reached into the bush and picked my own. I held it in my hands carefully, staring down at it, thinking. Isn't seeing birds eat something in the wild mean its okay to eat it yourself? Shrugging, I bit into the red fruit.

It was spicy. _Very_ spicy. My eyes started to water, and I spat out the mouthful of food. Sighing quietly at the lost opportunity for snacking (I am a teenage boy, after all), I turned my attention away from the plant life and towards my native guide.

Currently, the bird was tearing into its second spicy fruit. The remains of the first were covering the thing's beak and feet, staining them an unnatural red. Because of this, it looked far more intimidating than any basketball-sized bird had any right to be.

Its beak, while small in comparison to its head, was slightly hooked, like a falcon. Its head was covered in rough, brown feathers, which swept back from its beak, forming pseudo spikes all around its face. Its back was a pure black. Its stomach was a cream color and was interrupted by thin horizontal stripes. Its legs were featherless and pinkish with two front claws and one back one. Its talons didn't look very sharp, luckily. Its wings were stubby and a deep red color. Its tail feathers were the same brown as its head.

Overall, it looked like a oversized pigeon with an angry falcon head.

Once it was finished gulping down bites of the red fruit, it cawed at me and started walking again. I decided to try to communicate with it.

"So, where are we going?" I asked politely. The bird squawked a response.

"Ro. Err-spear-err."

I nodded knowingly. "I see." I didt not see. In fact, I had no idea what in the world the bird was trying to communicate to me.

"How come you can understand me perfectly, but I can't understand you at all? Or can you understand me? Maybe you've just been telling me 'no hablo ingles' in bird. Maybe I've gone crazy. Maybe..." I stopped walking. The bird, who had been watching me with its head tilted, stopped too, giving me a concerned look. Or, as concerned a look one can give you with a beak. "Maybe this is just a big joke of Clockworks? Do you think he'd do that?"

The bird trilled reassuringly at me. Now it looked downright distressed by my ramblings.

"I'm sorry, I've just had a weird day. Are we close to our destination?"

Perking up, the bird tweeted happily.

I smiled at it. Honestly, considering our rocky start, I was beginning to warm up to the thing. It was kinda cute.

"Maybe I should keep my questioning to yes/no questions. Are you a boy bird monster?"

The bird gave an affirmative chirp. "Row!"

"Okay, cool. Do you have a name?"

"Spearow-err-ear. Ow-spee." I sighed deeply.

"I'm gonna need a yes or no, bud." The bird cooed a single negative note. "Since you don't have a name, I'll have to give you one. Let me think…" The basketball-sized bird gave me a cheerful look and peeped quietly.

"That's it! I'll call you Basketball! Cause that's how big you are! Get it?" The bird trilled cheerfully.

"Ro-roww-spee!"

"You like it? Man, I'm great at naming things. You should meet my sister. She's awful at naming th-" I thought I could hear something. "Did you hear that?" Basketball cawed and broke into a run. I sprinted after it. With my battleborn quickness, I was able to easily keep up with the small creature.

Soon, I could clearly hear the noise. It was a child. It was crying.

The bird and I picked up speed. The bird seemed to have decided that running on its short legs wasn't fast enough, because it soon took off into flight. I decided against flying myself. I wasn't sure if this world had ghosts or supernatural powers at all, and I didn't want to freak anyone out. I didn't want to freak out Basketball, anyway. I only used a little intangibility to keep up with the bird as we raced toward the sound of soft crying.

Soon, we stumbled into a tiny clearing. A small boy, maybe nine or ten years old, was sitting under a large tree sobbing. He had a head of shaggy, coarse, brown hair. Clutched tightly across his chest was a dirty, torn backpack. Basketball reached him first.

I stopped in the underbrush, out of sight. The bird landed near the boy and started hopping gave a soft coo, trying to get his attention. The boy, who had been staring at the ground, looked up in fear. He closed his eyes and swung his backpack at the approaching bird.

"Go away!" he shouted in a shaking voice.

Basketball jumped away from the swing and twittered nervously. He obviously wanted to help the poor boy, but the child was terrified of him. He looked like a human being (but then again, so did I), so maybe he wouldn't be scared of me?

I deliberately rustled the leaves around me to get the boy's attention. He turned towards me, holding his backpack like a life line. I emerged from the bushes and immediately crouched down a comfortable distance away. I'd dealt with enough scared kids to know that looming over them never helps.

"Hey there. Are you okay?" I asked in a soft, calming voice. The boy looked at me silently. "My name's Danny. What's your's?" I waited for a moment, wondering if he was going to speak to me.

"Ryan," he whispered. His voice grew in volume and confidence as he talked. He had a slight accent, maybe Japanese? "My name's Ryan. I… I'm a little lost. Do you know where Route 5 is?"

"Hi, Ryan. I don't know where Route 5 is, but my bird friend might." I stood up and stretched out my arm toward Basketball. He quickly flew at me, landing on my forearm. His claws clamped tightly onto my skin, making me regret wearing a t-shirt. The boy flinched away from the bird, but seemed more at ease once it landed on me.

"Oh, that's your spearow? I thought he was wild."

"Spearow, huh?" I looked at the bird more closely. "Is that what its called?"

The boy looked a little concerned. He stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants. "Yeah, that's the species name. It is yours, right?"

I shrugged. "Probably. Why are you running away from home?"

The boy froze. He gripped the backpack in both hands, holding it between us like a shield. Basketball's claws dug into my arm. I kept my eyes on the kid. If he took off, I might lose him in this forest.

He barked out a short laugh. "Wh-what do you mean? I'm not.." I lifted one eyebrow. "How could you tell?"

"I've seen enough runaways to be able to spot one. Where are you running to, bud?" He sighed dramatically.

"I don't know. Away? I had a plan, but then I went off the path and got lost and your bird kept flying at me and… I just…" The fear returned to his eyes. "Please don't take me back."

"I won't. Do you want to tell me why you ran?" I took a step closer. He was quiet for a moment.

"My mom… she won't let me be a trainer. I may look small, but I'm almost eleven! I should have a full team by now! I should… Maybe trying to start my adventure without a starter wasn't a good idea, huh?" I nodded thoughtfully.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The kid gave me a confused look and started to interrupt me, but I just kept talking. "What I do know is that this bird-" "Spearow." "-spearow probably knows how to get out of these woods and I for one don't want to sleep in a tree. I've tried it, kid, and I can tell you that its not fun."

The kid smiled a bit at my half joke. Basketball cooed reassuringly at the Ryan. I deeply hoped that the spearow actually knew how to get out of these woods, or gaining the trust of this kid and convincing him to return to his home would be useless.

"Why don't we go back to your home and we can talk to your mom about your trainer problem?"

Ryan deflated, his tired bravado slipping away. "You're right. This is stupid. I want to sleep in a bed." He slipped his backpack on. Hilariously, little kids in this world thought they looked cool wearing the backpack with one strap. I chuckled a little bit to myself.

"What are you laughing at?" he inquired suspiciously. I gave him a quick smile.

"Nothing important. Now, where are we going? Basketball can lead us out of the woods-" I shot a quick imploring look to the bird, who nodded seriously. "-but I need to know where we're going once we get out of this forest."

"We need to head north. Route 5 is where I went off the path, so we'll probably leave the woods there. We'll just have to go north from there. I live in Cerulean City."

"Good. Lead the way, Basketball." The bird nodded at me again and flew off my arm. He chirped once and started hopping. Ryan and I followed close behind, walking side by side.

Luckily, the kid seemed to have a knack for weaving through the thick underbrush, so his much shorter stride didn't slow us down. Unfortunately, I am not woodsy. Since the kid kept looking at me, I couldn't just phase through any tangling branches like I had been doing. I ended up being the slowest member of our little group.

Ryan was uncomfortably quiet on our walk. I wasn't sure if that was because he was planning out what he was going to say to his mom or if he was just shy. (I quickly gave up trying to plan out what I wanted to say. 'Hi, ma'am. I was just wandering in the woods and I found your son. Also, I'm from a different world. And I'm a half ghost superhero. And this is my bird. Can I sleep on your couch until I figure out what quest I was sent here to do?' Everything I came up with sounded completely crazy.)

"So… what's the name of this wood?" Ryan gave me another incredulous look. I was starting to get tired of those. (I'd gotten enough of them from my parents after the Disasteroid. Yes, Dad, I can use my ghost powers all the time, even in human form. No, Mom, they're not killing me.)

"Cerulean Forest, I'm pretty sure." He squinted at me suspiciously. I could almost hear him ask how I didn't know where I was.

"How old are you?"

"I'm almost eleven," he said defensively. "How old are you?"

"Almost eighteen."

"You're pretty old."

"I guess. So, are humans the dominant species?" I asked as casually as I could.

"...Are you serious? Yes, of course they are! Are you insane?" I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Just checking that you didn't get a concussion or something." He relaxed once I said that, believing me completely. Hah! And Sam thought I was a bad liar. "What's your full name?"

"Ryan Accipio. What's yours?"

"Danny Fenton."

"That's a weird last name."

"So's yours."

"...That's fair."

We traveled in a much more comfortable silence after that. Soon, we emerged from the trees, blinking in the unfiltered sunlight. Basketball trilled a happy song and flew a triumphant circle around Ryan and I. We were at the edge of a wide, well beaten path that I guessed was Route 5. Occasional patches of waist-to-shoulder high grass were strewn around the entire area. I could see a small cottage in the distance to our left.

"Good job, Basketball!" I called to the excited bird. I held out my arm again and the bird landed hard, claws first. I winced a bit at the impact, but luckily it didn't break the skin.I brought my arm around so he was right in front of my face. "Thanks for leading me to Ryan and then out of the woods. You were really helpful. If you want to leave you can, bud." I would miss the bird, but I didn't feel that bringing an intelligent, wild bird along to the city if it didn't want to go would be a good idea.

"What, are you a ranger or something?" asked Ryan. I assumed he was being rhetorical and I kept my eyes on Basketball.

"Spee-ow," the bird chirped. Then, he leaned forward and rubbed the side of his hooked beak against my face. His face feather tickled.

"Awww! That was adorable," Ryan squeaked. "He really likes you."

Basketball leaned away from my face and turned to Ryan. He squawked angrily in his direction. Ryan threw his hands into the air.

"Fine, you're not adorable. You're tough." The bird trilled happily.

"Technically, you're the adorable one here, Ryan." I pointed out mock-seriously. Basketball nodded gravely, his mouth slightly open in a beaky smile. Ryan started to splutter, embarrassed at being called adorable.

I laughed and turned left, walking towards the cottage in the distance. Ryan quickly ran after me, his face still red from blushing. Basketball flew off my arm in a flash of feathers. He seemed to prefer walking in front.

Now that I could see the horizon better, I could see that it was late afternoon.

"Ryan, how far is the city? I don't want to walk in the dark, even if we're on a path."

"It only an hour or two's walk from here, I think. We'll get there before the sun sets."

* * *

True to his word, we arrived in Cerulean City after what felt like an hour and a half. My feet were sore, Ryan kinda smelled like someone who had slept outside the previous night, and Basketball quickly lost his energy to hop and ended up being carried in my arms. I think he might have took a nap.

"This is it?" I asked Ryan. He nodded.

"Its not as big as cities in other regions, I know. I think its called a city just for the alliteration."

I had to laugh at that. "Nice."

The 'city' was maybe three dozen buildings arranged haphazardly. The houses were connected by the same sort of grassy path that we had just come left. The amount of grass and trees would have made even Sam very happy. The city proper was separated from the path by a small building lined with counters. No one gave a couple of scraggly kids and their tired bird a second glance.

In the city proper, my eye was immediately drawn to a white and red building with the words "Pokemon Center" emblazoned on the front. Ryan grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the left, dragging me past the building.

"Come on. My house is over here. After a few minutes of walking, Ryan stopped in front of a one story house with a green tile roof. He sighed. He looked up at me with furrowed brows.

"Do I have to go home?"

I pretended to think, shifting Basketball to one arm and scratching my chin with the other.

"Hmmm… Yes. Now, knock. Your mom probably misses you very much."

Ryan grimaced a little and lifted his fist to the door. After a short, tense pause, he banged his fist on the wooden door.

Almost immediately, a woman in her late thirties opened the door. "Yes?" She had the same short cut, rough hair as Ryan. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of him.

"Ryan! You're back! I was so worried." She looked at me and then glanced down at Basketball. "And you've brought home a trainer friend! Come in, come in." She ushered us all into the house. Once we were inside, she gave Ryan a warm hug, which he returned. While they hugged, I took the opportunity to get a good look at the house.

The house was small, but undeniably _homey_. It seemed gently worn and lived in. The sparse furniture that I could see was made of wood and was softened with use. The entire house was open planned, with the floor sectioned off into rooms by simple screens, all painted with designs of fanciful, brightly colored animals.

Ryan's mom ushered us to a low table surrounded by four pillows, then scurried away. I lowered myself onto a pillow carefully, while Ryan plopped with all the ceremony of a mudslide. I carefully moved Basketball onto the pillow beside me, hoping that he wouldn't try to fly around and make a mess. Luckily, he seemed as interested as me, and was looking around the house as well.

Ryan looked almost bored to be home.

"She's going to get you some tea. I hope you like mint berry leaf." Ryan seemed unenthusiastic.

Soon enough, Ms. Accipio returned with a tray. On it were a tea kettle and some cups. I was suddenly struck by the thought of complicated tea ceremonies. What if there was some sort of intricate ritual that I needed to know? I started to panic a little.

Ryan's mom poured three cups with relaxed efficiency. After a questioning look at Basketball and a quick glance at me, she poured a four cup. She then placed the cups quickly in front of each of us, including the bird. I watched Ryan to see what I was supposed to do.

Luckily, it seemed like there was no ritual for the tea, as Ryan simply picked his up and began chugging. I picked my cup up and took a few gulps. It was pretty good, a little strong, but I'm not really a tea person anyways. (Hilariously, _Tucker_ was. He claimed that it was a good source of caffeine when his mom refused to buy him anymore energy drinks.)

Basketball hopped up on the low table to dunk his beak in the cup a couple times, but soon got bored of that and flapped back to his pillow. He fluffed up and settled down for another nap. His mother took a few delicate sips, then broke the silence.

"I'm so happy you're back, Ryan. Would you like to introduce your new friend?" She had the sweet, mother-y tone that I would have expected a mother to have, but she had sharp, no nonsense eyes that didn't miss a thing. I liked her.

"This is Danny." He waved vaguely in my direction. "He's a trainer from out of town, and he convinced me to come back home. That's his spearow, Basement-All." I grimaced at the mispronunciation of Basketball's name. Maybe they didn't have basketball in this world.

"Its nice to meet you, Danny. You can call me June. Thank you so much for bringing my son back. He's been gone for two days! I was starting to lose my mind with worry." I looked down, embarrassed. Ms. Accipio was so genuine, that my half-baked lies were beginning to melt away.

"Its no problem, ma'am. I was happy to be if help."

"So, where are you from? Where you traveling to Cerulean for the gym?"

"Uhh…?" I spared a glance at Ryan. He seemed interested in my forthcoming answer, too. "I'm from… not around here?" Both of the Accipios were starting to look suspicious. "I'm just passing through. I'm from far away. _Very_ far away."

June raised an eyebrow at my vague half truths. "Okay… you're a trainer, right? How many pokemon do you have?"

"I- uh…" What in the world is a pokemon? Why does Ryan think I'm a 'trainer?' I was panicking. I started to sweat. I stood up quickly, knocking my shins against the table. "I need to go to the bathroom."

June pointed behind her and I darted away. The screens formed a hallway that led me to the only real room in the house. I quickly went inside and locked the door behind me. Inside was a toilet, sink, and shower. I went over to the sink and started splashing water into my face.

"You can do this. If you couldn't, Clockwork wouldn't have sent you." I made a face to the mirror. "Probably."

Sighing, I wiped off my face with a nearby towel. Maybe honesty was the best policy. I obviously didn't know enough to be able to lie convincingly. I braced my shoulders and exited the bathroom. Too soon, I was back at the low table. Ms. Accipio had cleared away the tray and cups and Ryan was playing with what looked like trading cards. Ms. Accipio was nowhere to be found.

I sank down into my pillow. Basketball gave me a reassuring coo, seeing my evident discomfort. I reached over and scratched the top of his head, trying to calm down.

"Danny," Ryan said. "Doesn't this look like Basement-All?" He scooted a single card to me face up. I picked it up.

"His name is Basketball," I corrected absently. The card was a light gray, with a picture of a furious spearow on the top half. "Nah, this guy's looks like a jerk. Basketball is nice. He's the one who led me to you when we were both lost. Though, he was a bully to a giant caterpillar."

"You mean a caterpie." I gave Ryan a questioning look. "Green, about a foot long? The pokemon you're describing is a caterpie."

I shrugged in what I hoped was a casual way. The bug was a pokemon? Is pokemon just another word for creature? "If you say so."

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"You have no idea."

Just then, June returned, her arms full of blankets and pillows. She looked a little embarrassed.

"Oh, honey, you're back! I'm so sorry for overloading you with questions. I know how you trainers get when you get back into civilization: not used to talking to anyone but your pokemon. Here." She hand me the blankets. "You can sleep here tonight on our couch. We can talk more in the morning, dear."

She led me around some screens until we came to a small area with just a small couch and an even smaller television. I dropped the bedding on the couch. June, who smiled and gave me a small, hesitant pat on the shoulder, hurried away. I began making up a bed, which didn't take too long. Back home, I was the sleepover master. I spent most days before the accident over at Tucker's to avoid my parent's weird experiments.

I settled down to sleep. After a few minutes I heard a flapping and saw Basketball winging small circles above the screens. He quickly spotted me and swooped down into the couch area, landing on the ground. He gave a few tentative peeps.

"Come here." I murmured, patting the couch. Basketball flew up and settled close to my side. I laid down and closed my eyes, willing myself to fall asleep. I could hear both June and Ryan settling in for sleep. I reached over and patted Basketball's back.

"Well, that happened. At least I have somewhere to sleep. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a touch less stressful. That would be nice, right, bud?" Deep breathing was my only response. He was already asleep.

I fell asleep not too long after, dreaming of bright creatures flying off of painted screens and dancing around me.

**Things are finally happening, you guys. I'm trying to post longer chapters, yo. **

**If anyone has any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a review or send a pm. I'm always open to chat. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Dannyversary, guys! **

* * *

I woke up confused. Why is my bed so narrow? Why is it so bright in my room? Why is there a weight on my stomach? The previous day started to come back to me. I'm not a morning person, so trying to deal with all the new information just made me want to go back to sleep.

Groggily, I sat up, displacing the the bird that had somehow migrated to sleeping on my stomach during the night. He slipped down and ended up on my lap, twittering discontentedly. I patted the creature (pokemon?) distractedly. He gave a tired tweet.

Ha. Even birds hate mornings.

As if on cue, June Accipio burst into the couch/t.v. area. She looked very awake and very happy.

"Morning, dear! Feel free to take a shower, if you would like. I put some of my husband's old clothes in the bathroom so you have something clean to change into. We'll have breakfast as soon as you're ready."

I yawned. A second later, Basketball yawned, too.

"You two are just too cute!" I was so not awake enough to argue.

"'aight. I'll be right there."

I carefully set Basketball on the floor and stumbled my way back to the bathroom. I showered as quickly as I could. The clothes that were set out was a baggy pair of blue jeans and a green hoodie with no drawstring on the hood. I looked a little ridiculous, but they were much cleaner than the jeans and t-shirt that now seemed to be primarily held together with dirt and leaves from our hike yesterday.

I emerged from the bathroom considerably nicer smelling and much more awake. I made my way to the low table. Ryan was sitting at the table, twiddling his thumbs. Ms. Accipio was nowhere to be seen.

"Sup, bro." I greeted him. "You seen my bird?"

"He's in the kitchen, begging for scraps. I hope you like omelettes, by the way."

June called out from behind some screens. "Can you give me some help, Ryan?" He sighed.

"Coming!"

Ryan stomped away unwillingly. After a moment, both the Accipios had returned with their arms full of dishes. Basketball flapped into the room behind them, then settled down on a pillow next to me. Ryan placed a large, steaming bowl of rice in the middle of the table. June placed six plates of normal looking omelettes at the table. I blinked and counted again. In fact, two more pillows had been added around the table.

"Six?" I asked.

"Oh, you haven't met my pokemon yet, have you? Ryan, could you release Vinnie and Missy?" Ryan nodded once and left to get June's pokemon.

After a minute, Ryan returned carrying monsters. In one arm was an enormous purple rat with oversized front teeth. In the other was a two foot tall yellow _cocoon_. The rat was squirming to be put down and the cocoon was watching me with dark eyes. (I didn't think that cocoons had eyes?! Why was the rat _purple_?)

Ryan dropped the rat, who landed neatly on its feet and then ran over to me. It pushed its huge snout into my hands and sniffed loudly. It was _huge_. It was maybe a foot and a half long and had a long curly tail. Up close, it looked almost cute? I carefully pet its head, trying to relax. It pushed its head into my hand, chattering softly.

"Ra-ta-ta-tat-ta-tat."

"That's Vinnie, and this is Missy," said Ryan.

Ryan set the cocoon on a pillow across from me. It balanced upright, making small movements that no cocoon should. It stared at me with unblinking eyes.

"So, what do you think of my pokemon, Danny? I used to be a trainer back in the day, you know?"

"I really-" The rat plopped on the same pillow as Basketball, snuggling up to the bird and sniffing him loudly. "-really like them. They're very… friendly." Basketball chirped in (slightly nervous) agreement. Vinnie rubbed his face against the bird.

We all started eating quietly. Given the Japanese vibe the whole house was giving me, I fully expected to be given chopsticks. Hilariously, we ate our rice and omelettes with forks. The rat and Basketball just dunked their heads into their meals, chowing down with gusto. The cocoon, disturbingly enough, had hidden, jointless arms that it used to shovel food into its hidden mouth.

June was once again the one to start the conversation.

"Danny, did Ryan tell you he wants to be a trainer, too?" I started to get nervous again. I decided to tell the truth to this nice lady. Not the whole truth, since the whole portal through time and space would be difficult to explain, but enough of the truth.

"He did tell me that he wanted to be a trainer. However, I'm not a trainer. I'm from… out of town and I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

June looked confused. Ryan stared right into my eyes with a blank, slightly expectant face.

"I thought…? A trainer is someone who raises pokemon. I thought you were the trainer of your spearow?"

"I just met this bird yesterday. We're friends." June's eyes flew open.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I just assumed, since I saw the way you two got along… I assumed you were a trainer passing through to get to the gym." She straightened her back, trying to get control of the conversation back. "If you're not a trainer, then why are you in Cerulean?"

"I was…" I carefully tried to think of an accurate half-truth. "... sent by a… friend of mine who knew that- No wait- I'm kinda on a quest, I suppose you could say? My friend sent me here because there is something that I have to fix. I'm pretty good at fixing problems." I gave a reassuring smile. 'Good at fixing problems' is kinda similar to 'half-ghost superhero from another dimension,' right?

June somehow looked even more confused. I doubted that Ryan's eyes could get any bigger. Basketball, on the other hand, looked sympathetic to my obvious nerves.

"So, you're looking for some problem?" asked June. I nodded. "And you don't know what it is?" Nod. "And you're not a trainer?" Nod.

Unexpectedly, June clapped her hands loudly with a smile on her face. Even Ryan jumped in surprise.

"You're going to need to speak with Professor Oak! If something is needing to be 'fixed,' he'd know about it. Luckily, he's in town right now. Ryan, can you take Danny over to the gym and help him get a meeting with the Professor?"

Ryan jumped up from his seat excitedly. "Sure! Come on, let's go!" He raced around the table and grabbed onto my arm, dragging me into a standing position. My head was starting to spin a little bit from all this new information. Regardless, I turned to Basketball, who was still being sniffed and nuzzled by the purple rat.

"You ready to go, bud?"

He cooed happily, flapping off the pillow and onto the floor.

"Let's go, then. Lead the way, Ryan."

* * *

I was dragged by the wrist out of the quiet house in a busy street by an excitable ten year old. After one glance at the chaos, I picked up Basketball, cradling him in one hand. I didn't want the comparably tiny bird to be smushed by the crowds.

The packed dirt roads, though empty last night, were flooded with people and monsters. Strolling old ladies were being calmly followed by 10 foot long purple cobras. Little kids chasing after big green caterpillars (caterpies?). Sharp eyed police officers with one hand on their tiger striped dogs.

This world is insane. And Ryan was leading me right into it.

The boy dragged me into the swell of people, casually dodging around man and beast alike. He was so nimble that I briefly wondered how good of a ghost fighter he would be. Unfortunately, his ability to slip through the crowds was dampened by the gawking teen he was dragging. I'll admit it: I was still a bit culture shocked and overwhelmed.

"Come on!" Ryan exclaimed the second time I tripped over a rock (with arms and a face?!). "Just step _over_ the geodudes! Its not that hard."

The rock hissed at me, then stood up on its arms and walked away (?!). "Which ones are the geodudes, the ones I keep stepping on or the ones I keep getting tangled up in?" I still had sap on my jeans from getting wrapped around a living weed somehow earlier.

Ryan let out an exasperated groan. "Its like you don't know _anything_! Whatever."

I blushed a little. Sure, I was being a little clumsy, but who could blame me? I hadn't had to push through a crowd since I got my ghost powers. I could just walk through people invisibly, or, more recently, I could simply say "excuse me" and people would get out of my way. Being a superhero has it perks.

Soon, we passed the white and red building (which was filled with people and monsters), and the crowds started to die down. Ryan slowed down a bit. He started to get a scheming look on his face.

"So, I'm taking you to Professor Oak, right?"

"Yes…?" I responded uncertainly. I wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"So, technically, I'm doing you a favor? So, technically, you owe _me_ a favor." I lifted an eyebrow. Really, kid? He waved one hand dismissively. "Not a big favor, but a favor nonetheless."

"What do you want, kid?"

"I want you to talk to my mom about me becoming a trainer." He blurted out. "She doesn't think I'm ready, but I _am_. I'm so ready. I've been ready for almost a year. Just… talk to her, okay?" I gave a small nod. It wouldn't hurt to talk to June. Maybe talking to her was my mission? Maybe Ryan grows up to be a great trainer (can trainers be great? Maybe important is the word I'm looking for) and saves the world or something.

I silently laughed at myself. There's no way that Clockwork would give me such an easy task.

Would he?

* * *

After a few minutes of walking past almost identical houses, we arrived at a huge building. On my initial look at the town, I had assumed it was a warehouse, but the the word "GYM" was painted on the wall just below the roof line.

"Why is the professor at a gym?" I asked incredulously. I was briefly caught up in a mental image of a weak, old man with a lab coat bench pressing twice his bodyweight.

"Because he's a pokemon professor," answered Ryan. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. What does that even _mean_?

Ryan pushed his way into the building, dragging myself and the bird along. I briefly wondered how Basketball was feeling in all this insanity.

My thoughts of the bird were pushed out of my head by the inside of the "gym." The entirety of the inside of the huge building was an inground pool. The length of the pool was bridged by a bizarre twisting dock. The dock path seem to be made out of diving boards, interestingly enough.

People in bathing suits were lounging on and around the dock path. Some were chatting with each other, but most seemed to be simply hanging out. A few monsters were laying in the water as well, but, surprisingly, there were less creatures than people.

Ryan dragged me to the right, were a metal door was simply marked "Office." He opened the door and pulled me through. Inside was a simple office, with a desk and chairs and bookshelves.

A red haired woman was sitting behind the desk. She seemed to be in her late thirties. Her hair was damp and her voice was loud. A man in a lab coat was sitting with his back to us.

"-simply no proof. Bill hasn't reported anything, so I wouldn't worry about it," the woman said. Ryan stepped in front of me quickly and began speaking.

"Excuse me, we're here to see Professor Oak?" he said. The woman stood up quickly, and the man turned to see who was speaking.

"We'll discuss this later," the woman said sharply to the lab coat wearing man. "You have company, and _I_ have a gym to run." She walked around the desk and gave me a quick nod. She was out the door before I could blink. When I turned back to the man, he was standing, too.

Ryan practically tripped over himself in rushing up to the old man. The man (Oak?) offered his hand, which Ryan excitedly shook. The man smiled at him and then at me, but the happiness didn't reach his eyes. Ryan looked star struck.

Professor Oak was an older man, somewhere in his sixties or seventies. He stood up straight and his hands were lightly calloused. His white-gray hair was cut short and his lab coat was buttoned smartly.

"Sir, its so great to meet you," said Ryan joyfully. "My name is Ryan and this is Danny. My friend here is from out of town but he's on a quest and my mom thinks you can help him." Oak looked from Ryan to me.

"Is this true?" he said softly. His voice, especially in comparison to the woman's booming voice and Ryan's excited gushing, was quiet and light.

"Yes," I said. "I was sent to Cerulean by a… friend. He said that something needed to be done?" Oak looked down at Ryan, quirking an eyebrow. I shook my head.

"Ryan, why don't you go outside and watch Misty? I bet you've never seen a Gym Leader in action before. Its quite impressive." Ryan nodded at his hero and dashed out the door. The old man sighed and moved to sit behind the desk, gesturing for me to take a seat. I sat carefully and set Basketball on the chair next to me.

"Your friend was exceedingly vague, but I'm intrigued. What would you like to ask me?"

I carefully weighed my options. This man seemed important, judging by the Accipios' reactions, so it might be worthwhile to trust him with the truth.

"Are you- you're, like, the most important guy around, right?" He gave a rueful smile.

"The only person who even rivals my authority is the Champion. Despite Misty's behavior today, I am even above local Gym Leaders."

"...And gym leaders are big, right?" Oak gave me a puzzled look.

"Where exactly are you from, young man?" I took a deep breath, bracing myself.

"I'm a superhero from another dimension. I was sent here to do something by the master of time of a dimension parallel to mine."

"..."

There was a couple minutes of silence. Astoundingly, Oak's face didn't even twitch as he absorbed what I had told him.

"Did your this master of time happen to tell you what sort of thing you were sent to do?"

I ran my fingers through my hair nervously. "No. He just said 'you'll figure it out' or something." I chuckled nervously. Professor Oak began to breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. I was suddenly struck by the thought of freaking out this old man enough to have a heart attack.

"Did this master of time happen to be a metallic dragon?" I blinked at that.

"No? He's a green guy with red eyes in a cloak… Do you know about him?" The thought of this world having some connection to the Ghost Zone and the Human Realms made my stomach drop. Is protecting this place my responsibility, too?

"No, no, just checking. Would you mind if I let out one of my own pokemon?"

I shrugged. "Sure, knock yourself out."

He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a small ball. It was about the size of a ping pong ball with a large button on it. It was half red and half white, vaguely reminding me of the busy building outside. He pressed the button with his thumb and it expanded to the size of a tennis ball. I was astounded. It grows? I had assumed that this world was more focused on utilizing the monsters running around, so I hadn't even been thinking about the technology.

He pressed the button once more and the ball swung open. In a bright (vaguely familiar) flash of red light, a monster stood beside the professor. The monster was huge. It was easily seven feet tall and looked like a chubby palm tree with legs. Its coconut shaped heads stared at me languidly.

I briefly wondered if I should just stop being surprised by things that happened in this crazy dimension, as I obviously was never going to be used to this craziness. The middle coconut head gave a snorting laugh.

...Did this walking coconut tree just read my mind?

"Exeggutor, please analyse this young man's mind and see if he is from another dimension."

The tree focused its unblinking attention on me. I started to feel an itch forming at the bottom of my skull, but I tried not to squirm.

"Seriously? Psychic coconut trees?" I muttered. Basketball gave a short, caw-like laugh.

After about twenty seconds the exeggutor blinked and spoke to Oak.

"Egg-gutor." It said firmly out of a side head. Oak nodded.

"According to my exeggutor, you are telling the truth."

"Awesome! So, do you know what I'm supposed to do? Or do you know how to communicate across dimensions so I can ask Clockwork?"

"No." I waited for him to finish his thought, but apparently that was it. The only thing he did was press the button on the ball again, making the tree disappear. One more press and the ball was small again. He slipped it into his pocket calmly.

"No? Aren't you a smart guy? Don't you have any theories?"

"Perhaps, but first tell me the complete story from talking to the time guardian to right now."

So I told the old man everything, from vague instructions from Clockwork to arguing with wild pokemon to convincing Ryan to return home. He remained completely silent throughout the entire story, simply nodding at me to continue whenever I lost my train of thought.

After I told him my story, I twiddled my thumbs for a bit, waiting for Oak to respond. Eventually, he did.

"You called yourself a superhero? How so?" I puffed up my chest proudly.

"I'm the half ghost protector and savior of two parallel dimensions: the Human Realm and the Ghost Zone. Mostly, I fight ghosts with my ghost powers." He steepled his fingers together.

"I see." I lifted an eyebrow. I had honestly been expecting him to demand a demonstration of my powers.

"Now do you want to share any theories you have?" I asked. Honestly, if he didn't know anything, then this whole trip was a waste of time.

"Your guardian of time has complete control of when and where he sent you, correct? Then your location and proximity to other people was engineered. Which means that any one of the individuals you encountered when you first arrived could be important to your given task. This spearow, Ryan, or even the caterpie you encountered could be the focus of this task. Or, your proximity to Cerulean exactly when I arrived could be important. I slightly doubt that, as it could simply be coincidence, since I often travel around a great bit. You were told that your task would be obvious, correct? Which means that it is either something that greatly affects yourself or one of the individuals you initially encountered or a large group of people. Also, sending you, a ghost fighter, seems to imply that this task is ghost related, possibly.

"My advice to you would be to stick close to Ryan and this spearow, and to keep an eye out for any large scale events, especially ones that involve ghosts."

"Wow." After the man's short answers and long silences, that outpouring of words was almost unsettling. Professor Oak leaned back in his chair.

"My final piece of advice, before I have to go, is this: if all else fails, go seek out either the Elite Four and the Champion, or go to Pallet Town and seek me out again. I have a whole lab of the best minds of all of Kanto that could help you to try to figure out your task." He stood up. "It was nice speaking with you, Danny. I haven't had to think that hard about anything important in too long."

He offered his hand and I shook it. I held out my arm for the spearow.

"Basketball, let's go," I said. He shook out feathers and flapped to perch on my forearm. Oak gave me an odd look.

"I don't suppose you've registered as a trainer, have you?" I shook my head.

"Nope. I'm also not super sure what a trainer is. They're like pokemon caretakers, right? And all these monsters are called pokemon?"

Oak smiled broadly and gave a full, hearty belly laugh. It was ruinously loud after our quiet, serious discussion.

"Ah, yes, alternate dimension. Here…" He grabbed a blank piece of paper out of a desk drawer and a pen and started writing something down. "These are very basic books on pokemon, trainers, Kanto, and anything else you'd need to know to function in our society. Until you finish reading them…"

"Fake it 'til you make it?" I asked with a smile. Oak brightened a bit.

"I've never heard that phrase, but it sounds applicable. Please meet me at the pokemon center in one hour. Its the red and white building with all the windows. Until then, please take care of yourself." He walked around the desk and gave Basketball a soft pat. He cooed happily.

Oak left quickly, but I stayed in the office for a moment.

"So, we're a little bit closer to figuring out what I'm supposed to do. That's good, right?" I asked Basketball. He twittered positively.

I gave the spearow a curious look. "You'd tell me if you knew what the quest was, right?"

Basketball gave a short, one note rising tone.

* * *

**Danny really should have asked Clockwork more questions, huh? Or really, just ask start asking everyone more questions. **

**The pokemon world is great, because I'm basing it mostly off the games, supplementing with the anime and other fanfictions, and it amazing. Everything that isn't completely focused on pokemon has a weird Americanized Japan feel to it. I'm not going to go as far as someone holding up a rice ball and asking if Danny likes jelly donuts, but that's basically the feel I'm going for.**

**If anyone can guess (through review or PM) what pokemon Ryan will have as his starter, I will let them name it. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Exiting the office, I looked around for Ryan. The pool was filled with splashing and laughter, so my attention was immediately drawn there. Basketball, still standing on my arm, gave a cawing laugh.

Ryan was sitting by the pool, his bare feet trailing in the water. His shoes and shoes were sitting right beside him. The people (trainers?) who were previously lounging in the pool now were gathered around Ryan. Their grins were sharp and quick.

In Ryan's arms was a giant, squirming, blue tadpole. It's long, tadpole tail was dangling in the pool, splashing water everywhere. It had a hypnotic spiral pattern on its stomach and soft, adorable eyes that looked up at Ryan with adoration. Ryan, on the other hand, looked distinctly uncomfortable.

I walked up, trying my best to be casual. "How's it going, kid?" Success.

Ryan jumped up excitedly, dropping the creature into the pool. It gave a weak squeak as it fell. "You're back! How'd it go? Can we leave now?"

A young man in swim trunks chuckled. "You so ready to leave so soon, boy? We have plenty of pokemon that you haven't met yet. It'll be a good training experience for you."

Ryan shook his head vigorously. "No thanks! I'm good."

I turned and walked away, heading for the door. Ryan hopped to my side, trying to pull on his tennis shoes and hurry away at the same time. The swimmers laughed amongst themselves.

"Come back soon, boy!" one of the swimmers called. Ryan, now with two shoes, sprinted ahead of me and pulled the double doors open with all his force.

We exited the gym. Once the doors had swung closed behind us, Ryan slowed down to walk beside me again. He sighed.

"What was that all about?" I asked after a moment.

"I was hanging around those gym trainers and I _might_ have made an offhand comment that water pokemon were slimy and gross, stupid, I know!"

"Why is that stupid?" He huffed a bit, like he had forgotten that he had to explain everything to me.

"Cerulean Gym is a water type gym. Its leader, Misty, the woman in the office? She specializes in water pokemon. So, I kinda talked smack about their pokemon. They decided to 'educate' me on the merits of water types, which turned out to be just having me hold the slimiest of their pokemons. That one I had? That's a poliwag. It lives mostly underwater and it secretes a _grease _that makes it difficult for predators to get a grip on it. It is _literally_ the slimiest pokemon! And they handed it to me! Right after I said I hated slimy things!"

Ryan huffed and crossed his arms. Now that I could take a closer look at him, I could see that his shirt and shorts were splotched with what I assumed was water from the pool, but seemed too shiny in the sunlight. I tried to hold back a giggle at how _dramatic_ he was being about a little goop.

I was an expert on goop, myself. I've gotten enough ectoplasm (my own and other ghost's) on myself often enough that a little slime seemed a pretty silly thing to be upset about.

"But enough about those jerks. How'd your meeting with Professor Oak go?"

I glanced at Ryan casually. Despite moving on from the subject, his forehead was still creased in frustration.

"Pretty good. He…" I wondered how much I should tell him, and made a snap decision to be vague. "He was pretty helpful. Lots of big words and such." I gave a reassuring smile. He didn't seem to buy it. "I'm actually meeting him at the pokemon center in an hour."

Ryan's eyes went huge. "Really?! Can I come?"

I shrugged. "Probably. Ask your mom."

Ryan was quiet for a moment as we passed by the Pokemon Center and into some thicker crowds. Just like before, he grabbed my hand and tried to lead me through the throngs of people and monsters. Just like before, I proved wholeheartedly that I was not good at maneuvering through crowds without using intangibility.

Thankfully, it seemed that there were less people out and about. Glancing upwards, I saw that the sun was directly overhead. Maybe everyone was at lunch?

Ryan pulled me back to his home, bursting though the door and yelling.

"We're back!"

A muffled acknowledgement was yelled back by Ms. Accipio. Ryan dropped my hand and dashed off into the maze of painted screens. Basketball gave a small tweeting noise and flew off after him.

I followed the two ("stick close to Ryan and this spearow") at a much slower pace. Turning a corner, I arrived back in the area with the table. Basketball was settled in a cushion, looking very comfortable and half asleep. (Again. That bird.) Ryan was hugging his mother and talking rapidly.

"-talked to Oak and he's going to meet him at the PC and he's probably going to send him on an adventure! Isn't that right, Danny?" The two Accipios looked at me, Ryan with excitement and June with a sharp curiosity.

"Is that right, Dan?"

"Danny," I corrected absently. Technically, that was the truth. Ryan was an observant fellow. "Yeah, that's right. I'm meeting the professor in about an hour over at the pokemon center." June's eyes sharpened in an almost scientist way. ("Partial intangibility?" said Mom. "Why that's incredible! Can you show me?")

"He'll probably be assisting you in getting your trainer's license and insurance and whatnot. Can I speak with you in private, Danny?"

I shared a quick, confused look with Basketball. Even Ryan's earlier enthusiasm was dampened by that statement.

"Sure?" I said warily.

"Honey, go outside and play with Missy and Vinnie, will you?" Ryan huffed and disappeared behind some screens. After a moment, we could hear the sound of the door slamming. I could still hear his quiet breathing. Well, if he wanted to eavesdrop, I was in no position to judge him. (Good old girl's locker room. Good old invisibility. Good times.)

June carefully sat down on one of the cushions across the table from the spearow. I took a seat next to the bird. She cleared her throat softly.

"You're going on an adventure? Traveling around, that sort of thing?" I quickly nodded. She sighed. "Traditionally, kids start their pokemon training at age ten. They receive a single pokemon and travel around trying to get all eight badges from the eight major cities in the region. Most kids don't get all eight before they go home, but its a great learning experience and it helps them grow into confident people. I didn't let Ryan go last year when he turned ten." June sighed again.

"Why? He seems pretty excited about doing the whole trainer thing."

"Ryan… has had some trouble finding friends the last few years. He's gone through some tough stuff, and children are mean. You understand?" Did I ever. I knew all about bullying. I gave her a sage nod. "I wanted him to travel with friends. For safety, you know? In case something happens, I wanted people around to help him out. I wanted him to make these amazing connections that traveling with friends would give him.

"He refused to travel with anyone he had met here in Cerulean, and I refused to let him go be a trainer alone. We're both pretty stubborn." She began twisting her hands together in a nervous habit.

"Will you accompany my son on his trainer adventure? Not for forever, but just until he gets his feet under him and get some experience with working with his pokemon. Maybe until he has a badge or two?"

I almost smirked at her. Oh, you want me to escort your son around? The same son that Oak told me to watch over? I wonder what I'm supposed to do now? Sheesh. If all this was being set up by Clockwork, he was laying it on a bit thick.

"Sure, I'll go on an adventure with your son. He's a nice kid. It'll be fun."

"YES!" yelled Ryan triumphantly. I let my blank expression crack into a smile. I chuckled. June, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes dangerously.

In a deceptively quiet voice she said, "Young man, come here _right now_."

Soft footsteps were heard in the taut silence. Ryan stuck his head around a screen.

"Yes, mom?" he replied innocently.

"What did I tell you about listening in?"

"Not to do it."

"What did you do?"

"Listened in." He lowered his head in shame. "Sorry, mom."

"You and Danny are going to go down to the pokemon center now. I have something I need to do, but I want you both to come back here once you're both finished with your business."

"Aye aye, captain." I held out an arm. "Come on, Basketball. Its time to go."

The bird grumbled in his harsh voice and shook out his feathers. He flew up to my arm and perched firmly. At this point, from having his claws constantly digging into my skin, I was losing layers of skin. It hurt.

"Lead on, MacDuff," I said to Ryan.

"What? Do you mean 'lay on, MacDuff?'"

"Lay on, MacDuff."

"...You're weird."

"That's fair."

* * *

We walked out into the throng once more. It was chaos, but it was manageable. We made it to the pokemon center reasonably quickly.

The building had a red top and white wall. It was reasonably large with huge windows. The doors were overly large and automatic. Ryan pulled me through the doors and into the bright building by the hand. Inside was very interesting. To the left and right were lowered sitting areas with low tables and cushions, just like the Accipio's had in their house. People and pokemon were gathered around the tables and leaning against the walls, talking amiably. Most of the people were young, between ten and twenty years old.

Directly in across from the doors was a counter. It was manned by a pink (pink?) haired woman with a gentle smile. She seemed to be guarding or operating a large table like machine. Behind her was a door, leading to deeper into the building. On the right wall was a line of computers.

Professor Oak was standing by the front counter, speaking with the woman. People were doing their best impression of satellites around Oak, seemingly drawn in by awe and repelled by nerves. It was almost hilarious.

Ryan strode right up to Oak. I was dragged along with quiet humor quirking my mouth. That kid was _determined_.

"Hello, Professor!" interrupted Ryan. The woman Oak had been talking to twitched an eyebrow and walked away. "We're here."

"I can see that," said Oak with utter seriousness. I could almost see Clockwork's dry humor in that expression.

"I'm going to become a trainer, too," continued Ryan. Oak gave a half smile and flicked his eyes at me. Yeah, yeah, I know. Follow the kid. Check.

"Good. I'll be helping you both get your licenses and setting Danny with everything he needs to join you on your journey."

He turned and lifted a section of the counter, leading us through the back door. We followed and entered into what appeared to be a normal veterinarian's office. Oak gestured to some chairs lined up against the wall and we sat.

Ryan started swinging his legs excitedly.

"Gonna be a trainer. Gonna be a trainer. Gonna be a trainer." he chanted. Basketball began to sing along to his rhythm.

"Spear-er-ow spearow. Spear-er-ow spearow. Spear-er-ow spearow."

I ran my fingers through my hair. Really? Wasn't this supposed to be a vacation? I think I was getting a headache.

Oak swept back into the room and gave us both clipboards, which I filled out to the best of my ability. Name? Easy. Hometown? Amity Park. Age? 17. Training experience? ...Better leave that blank.

The other questions were a little more complicated. I left a lot of questions blank. After a minute, we both handed back our clipboards. Ryan's was completely filled in, understandably. Oak took the sheets and left again.

"So, why is Oak doing all this? Does he do all the trainer paperwork?"

"Nah, the nurses normally do this sort of stuff, but they're pretty slow about it and they normally require the whole sheet to be filled out." He gave me a cheeky smile. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at a preteen. "Oak probably has to do some finagling with the computer system to even get it to go through. And trainer cards are connected to a trainer's bank account, so he probably has to set that up, too."

"Bank account?"

"Yeah, whenever you battle someone in an official battle, the loser gives the winner half of their money in their trainer's account. Its separate from a normal account so nobody loses half of their actual money. Its more like… do you know poker? Its like the pot in poker. Its not all of your money, but as you get better and win more battles, the potential value grows. Most people withdraw all but some pocket change from their accounts, so they don't lose too much."

"Why would anyone keep any money there? That just seems like they're asking for trouble."

"Its so kids don't have to carry around money in the wilderness. And its convenient, 'cause you can use it like a debit card." He was quiet for a moment, then started to open his mouth.

"I know what a debit card is." I interrupted. He shrugged.

"Your gaps in knowledge are confusing." I shrugged back.

"Yeah."

Oak returned and handed us both cards. He gave me a quick nod and a significant look and left. I read my card and leaned over to read Ryan's as well.

_Danny Fenton_

_Age: 17_

_Hometown: -_

_Restrictions: Novice Trainer B; Non-Competitive Battler_

_Ryan Accipio_

_Age: 11_

_Hometown: Cerulean City_

_Restrictions: Novice Trainer A; Indigo League Registered_

"What's up with the restrictions?" I asked, looking down at the still-warm-from-the-printer card. It was made of a hard plastic and shaped like a credit card. Mine was gray, while Ryan's was a cool blue.

"Mine says Novice Trainer A because I'm a newbie. It only lets me keep lower level and lower stage pokemon until I have a certain amount of badges or contest ribbons or whatever. Most people aren't affected by it, but its mostly to keep dumb rich kids from buying something they can't handle or someone inheriting like, a dragonite or something as a starter and getting overwhelmed. And look!" He stuck the card in my face, waving it proudly. "I'm League registered, so I can go do the gym circuit whenever I want!"

"Is that… good?" I tried not to dampen his enthusiasm, but I was still processing what the cards even meant.

"Yeah! Some kids don't get registered when they get their licenses. If you're really immature, you'll get a battle restriction that says you can't legally battle other trainers."

I glanced down at my own card again. "Umm…"

"What? What does your's say?" He grabbed the card from my hand and began staring at it. "Ha! You're not in the League!" Ryan began laughing uproariously. I snatched my card back. My face started turning red. Honestly, me, a hero of two dimensions, getting embarrassed by a preteen.

Even Basketball gave a hoarse laugh. (Traitor! You're supposed to be on my side.)

"Oak probably didn't want me getting distracted from my quest by winning medals."

"Badges."

"Whatever."

After a few minutes, Ryan wiped the tears from his eyes and his chuckles died down.

"Its weird that your's is gray."

"Why? Is everyone's blue like yours?"

"No, its based on your hometown. Blue is for Cerulean. But people that aren't from Kanto normally get white ones, and it says their hometown on it. Yours just have dashes, see? Weird, huh?"

I looked down at my gray slip of plastic. "Yeah, definitely weird," I agreed.

* * *

We left the pokemon center in high spirits. I was in a good mood because I could finally start _doing_ something, and Ryan was elated that he was finally becoming a real trainer. He chattered excitedly as we wove our way through the customary crowds. I think I was finally getting the hang of crowds. Maybe. Or rather, Basketball, on my arm, was getting the hang of squawking loudly whenever someone was close to bumping into me.

Ryan burst through the doors of his house like a whirlwind, still talking excitedly.

"Mom! We're back!"

He grabbed my hand and pulled me along. Predictably, he led me to the low table. His mom enveloped him in a hug immediately. I felt my mouth turn up in a smile. I liked June. She was warm and she cared deeply for her son and his safety. I was very close to my mother at Ryan's age, so this scene reminded me of home.

Basketball cooed softly at me. I turned my grin to him and gave his head a scratch. I had always wanted a pet, but I had always assumed I would get a dog. (...wait, was Cujo my dog?) Birds were nice, though. I liked flying among birds in my ghost form, back home.

June pulled out of the hug and gave her son a smile.

"You ready?" His eyes lit up.

"Yes!" She chuckled warmly. June reached into her back pocket and pulled out a red and white ball. (Did those have a name? Oak had one of those.) She tossed it to Ryan underhanded. He caught it with both hands, almost reverently.

"Your father caught her. He said she's a sweetheart and loves sweets. He sends his love." Ryan smiled as wide as I'd ever seen. (His father?)

He pressed the button on the front of the ball carefully. It swung open, and in a flash of red light, a creature appeared on the ground. She was a soft lavender color and shaped like a pom pom. She was about as big as Basketball. She had big, red compound eyes, a little fanged mouth, and tiny hands. She had long tan feet that it bounced on lightly. She had long, white antennas that waved almost frantically.

"Nat nat nat. Veno!" she chattered excitedly.

Ryan's mouth dropped open and he dropped to his knees. He wrapped his arms around the little thing in a hug. She sniffed him interestedly.

"A venonat! Your name will be… Isdal!"

* * *

**Hehe, Ryan is starting to get used to giving exposition. I'll make a character out of him yet. Now he just need to think before he speaks. **

**That venonat could have been named Kathy (Amityville Horror), Isdal (Isdal Woman), or Seine (Woman of the Seine). Why? Because starter pokemon, in my experience, need to have confusing names that require explanations. Trust me. Its important. **

**Ugh, this chapter took too long. I'm not sure if I should start posting shorter chapters or if I just need more outlines to keep me on track. **


End file.
